


The many lives of Elia Martell

by Queen_of_Thorns88



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_Thorns88/pseuds/Queen_of_Thorns88
Summary: Elia is not betrothed to Rhaegar. 5+1 choices for the Princess of Dorne
Relationships: Ashara Dayne/Elia Martell, Elia Martell/Jon Arryn, Elia Martell/Ned Stark, Elia Martell/Oberyn Martell, Jaime Lannister/Elia Martell, Robert Baratheon/Elia Martell
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	The many lives of Elia Martell

1

They were inseparable since they were children. “Elia’s shadow”, their mother would call him and Oberyn would smile proudly. Where others saw softness, he saw the sparkle in her eyes. People thought they understood her, but he was the only one that knew every single facet of hers. They thought him prone to fall victim to his fancies but a single look from her would make him stop and think. Is it any wonder they were each other’s first kiss? 

Their love blossomed in the Water Gardens and no one had the power to stop it. Their mother raged and threatened them but Doran had resigned to the fact that nothing he could say would tear them apart. They took a ship heading to Lys, in the cover of night, with his assistance, knowing that they would never return to Westeros again.

They got married right away, no one knew them in Essos and no one cared about two Sands anyway. Surely their family could find them if they tried hard enough but they had already consummated their marriage and nothing could be done to salvage their reputation and the marriage prospects their mother so desperately plotted for them. And honestly why was she shocked? Targaryen blood flowed in both their veins.

2

Elia is sure that many people sneered that a Princess of Dorne was to marry a second son of Winterfell while the heir was married to a Tully. What people failed to understand was that she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Brandon was good looking, charming and charismatic. Brandon was also quick to action, slow of thought and extremely unlikely to keep his wedding vows, if his ongoing relations with Lady Dustin are any indication. In contrast, the quiet second son that many overlooked was as gentle, caring and honorable as her mother had promised her.

Her quiet wolf had brought her to his frozen domain and Elia thrived. The cold agreed with her so much, she barely got sick anymore. When she quickened with their child, Ned was attentive to her every need. When their daughter was born he gave her one of his smiles and doted on the girl from the moment he laid eyes on her. On her next name day he surprised her with a visit from Oberyn and a promise of taking little Mara to Dorne.

Elia may have wed a second son but she wouldn’t change their happy quiet life for all the gold in the realm.

3

She resigned to her fate as soon as she heard the news. Oberyn of course opposed the match from the start and he made his displeasure known clearly. Yet they both knew that the moment the betrothal was official, there was no going back. Thus Elia was wed to Jon Arryn and became the Lady of the Eyrie.

She imagines she could have done worse; he was much too old for her but never unpleasant or short with her. He let her run his household as she saw fit and all he asked in return was that she perform her wifely duties so he could have his much desired heir.

She swells with child in their first year of marriage. The Vale eagerly awaits the birth of the next little lord yet it is a little lady with her mother’s striking features. They can be disappointed all they want. Elia finally has someone of her own in this strange land and she couldn’t be happier. 

“She’s beautiful. We’ll have our boy next time” he says and it seems like he wants to sooth her and she wants to laugh in his face. She doesn’t need to be soothed. She is Elia of Dorne and knows what these savages constantly fail to learn: girls are as good as boys.

It takes two years for his seed to quicken in her again. She is all belly this time around and she feels the child consuming all her energy. The birth begins suddenly and ends brutally. Childbed fever sets in and she vaguely remembers another princess dying the same way she is. How she wishes she too had her mother by her side. Elia draws her last breath while the lords of the Vale celebrate the birth of her son.

4

Everyone thinks that the unforgiving Dornish sun is unbearable but they obviously have never visited the Stormlands; the constant rain makes her crave the burn of the sun on her bare skin. Her husband lets out a booming laugh at her obvious discomfort and she would love to see him choke on his wine. Sharing a conspiring look with Stannis she knows he feels the same.

Life in Storm’s End is never quiet as Robert loves nothing more than feasts and people surrounding him all the time. He hunts as often as he can and is unable to go one night without a woman in his bed. Elia’s life is reduced to running the daily governance of the castle with the help of Stannis, raising poor little Renly and bearing her husband sons. Sometimes she wishes she had joined the Silent Sisters. Then surely she would have had some peace and quiet.

5

When she first met Jamie she wasn’t sure what she felt for him. She could see Cersei’s influence on him clearly and something didn’t sit right with her. The Lannister twins were co-depended and they only brought out the worst in each other but while Cersei was conceited and sometimes downright cruel, Jamie had an undeniably soft nature. It was plain to see whenever he was in the presence of his mother and baby brother. While Lord Tywin and his daughter ignored Tyrion, Jaime and Lady Joanna doted on the newborn babe. Cersei learned swiftly that when it came to their little brother, Jaime could and would go against her in order to protect him.

When their betrothal became official Lady Joanna took her for a tour of the Rock. While they were walking the grounds she noticed her future good mother take in a deep breath and steel herself. 

“I have known your Lady mother since I was but a girl in court. She was my first and most precious friends and nothing has made me happier than knowing that our Houses are about to be joined through our children. I promise you, like I promised her, that I will love and care for you like I would a daughter and this is why I must tell you the truth and warn you. You have been in the Rock for three moons and I know you have noticed the closeness between the twins and while every mother’s wish is that their children love one another, Jaime and Cersei’s relationship is unlike yours and Oberyn’s. Cersei is of a mind that her brother belongs to her and her alone. She wants to be the only one he loves and has tried to claim him in any way a woman can claim a man. My daughter will not stop until she has what she wants and that is Jaime. I believe my son has the potential to be a great lord and husband away from her influence so I am currently arranging for a betrothal of her own, far away from the Westerlands. That will give you ample time to become close to my son and for him to escape his sister’s spell.” That was the day Elia loved her good mother.

Her relationship with Jaime was awkward at first, he was courteous but distant. She knew that he missed Cersei and thought of her as only a frail princess. It wasn’t until he saw her playing with Tyrion that he started looking at her in a different way. They started talking and getting to know each other hesitantly and slowly. By the time their wedding day arrived they had built a solid bond based on trust and love.

Their marriage proved to be a surprising success. With Tywin in King’s Landing and Cersei in the Vale, Jamie had thrived just like his mother had predicted. When their own twins were born, Jaime confessed to her his true relationship with Cersei and his fears of a repeat with his own children. When Elia informed him she had known the look on his face nearly made her topple with laughter. But he had no need to fear. None of their children loved the other as more than siblings.

+1  
Lying next to the pools with Ashara in her arms was where she was meant to be, she was sure of it. Northern Westeros was scandalized when it became known that the reason the Princess of Dorne spurred all her daughter’s suitors was Elia’s relationship with Lady Dayne. Oberyn of course was most pleased that his sweet sister was able to shock the entire continent with just her choice of a paramour. 

Theirs was a love that took roots steadily. At first they were just two children playing in those pools. While her other ladies wanted to run around, Ashara was always content to sit with her. When the other girls gushed about the kisses they received from boys, Ashara wrote poems about Elia’s lips. When Elia took ill, Ashara’s sweet voice and the look of love and devotion in her beautiful purple eyes were enough to make her day better.

So, Elia cared none for the whispers. She was blissfully happy in Dorne surrounded by her family.


End file.
